Coming Out

In a quiet move that shocked absolutely nobody, Anderson Cooper came out. While the news itself wasn’t a surprise, I was surprised by the casual way he did it. I didn’t expect him to shout it from the rooftops while waving a rainbow flag, but there was so little fanfare.

It’s kind of nice that the world’s reaction was to shrug and yawn. Yeah, so what? 

Are we getting to a place where sexual orientation doesn’t matter anymore? At least professionally, it shouldn’t matter. But until we all have the same rights and truly have equality, it has to matter. And we have to keep pushing until it happens. Let’s get the Boy Scouts, Chick-fil-A, and our government moving in the right direction. Get involved. You can start by signing a few petitions.

So thanks, Anderson. You were reluctant to do it, but you did it anyway. I’ll never truly know the courage it takes to come out of the closet. I have so many gay friends that have inspiring coming out stories. Some of them were well received, with warmth and love, their families and friends embracing them. Others weren’t as lucky, with their loved ones feeling alienated and afraid. But all the coming out stories share honesty, bravery, and laying it all on the line.

And what a remarkable thing, this rite of passage. It is so important, so life-changing, and so personal. These stories may be the key to forging understanding and empathy where it doesn’t exist. I’d like to invite anyone who would like to share their coming out stories, to do so here. This is an open invitation and we’ll keep it going as long as I keep getting stories. Maybe your story will help someone else.

Email me at madbettyblog(at)gmail(dot)com.